Where cats and anime matter

12. Made in Japan

The ADP are all ready to take on the rogue military boomer, but until the army gives them permission to attack, all they can do is watch and wait whilst the regular police evacuate the area.

Whilst Priss prepares to go out and face the monster alone, Linna agonises about being forced into deciding whether to go back and fight (if she can even make it in time), and Nene is tied up at the ADP in her capacity as a communications officer. The ADP still haven’t received permission to attack, and now the army are trying to take matters into their own hands, sending out two more giant boomers to combat the first one.

Sylia leaves Macky in charge at home whilst she heads out in the mobile pit. Meanwhile, Linna has indeed decided to come back; having realised that being with the Knight Sabers is indeed what she wants, she made her apologies to Masaki, and left for Tokyo (although embarrassingly enough, she did have to ask Masaki to lend her the money to get back).

The army’s attempt to stop the boomers results in little more than the wholesale destruction of a city block- and when the rogue boomer mutates and retaliates, the army boomers are crushed into the ground. The ADP can wait no longer- permission or no permission, they’re about to go on the attack.

But the ADP attack is doomed to failure- the boomer has surface-to-air missiles, easily enough to take down the attacking ADP chopper. Now all hope of defeating the giant boomer rests on the shoulders of one person- Priss.

Priss begins with a strong attack, but with no idea where the core is, all she can do is scratch the monster’s armour. They need the boomer schematics, but Genom is refusing to declassify them. If Nene wants them, she’ll have to hack into the army’s computers herself.

Whilst Priss launches a series of unsuccessful attacks on the boomer, Sylia finds herself unable to bring the mobile pit out to help her, thanks to a police cordon. Meanwhile, Nene is still trying to hack into the army computers; to speed things up, she decides to knock out their computer defences with an EM pulse, and then upload a virus that will quickly transfer the data she needs before the firewall comes back online. It may be a risky move, but with the clock ticking, there is no time to try anything else.

Nene finally gets into the army database and starts searching for the info, but it may be too late. Priss’ power cell is almost drained- she may not be able to launch another attack anyway. But help may be closer than she thinks- for Linna has just returned, and she’s ready to suit up and launch into combat.

Everything is finally starting to come together. Nene has found the data on the giant boomer- which isn’t a boomer at all, but rather a giant suit with a regular boomer inside. And just as Priss is about to give up, Linna arrives on the scene, with a brand new power cell for her. Recharged and ready to finish it, Priss goes for the boomer core whilst Linna draws the giant suit’s fire. Ripping through the armoured suit, Priss finds the boomer inside and crushes its core.

Quincy is none too happy that a boomer went rogue so publicly- he has spent too much time and effort getting people to accept boomers for them to start turning against his beloved machines now. In his opinion, military contracts are a mistake anyway, but Mason disagrees- the rogue boomer incident can be blamed on the army (the official story being that they made unapproved modifications to the machine), and besides, military contracts are what keep Genom’s accounts in the black.

Back at Mason’s office, his subordinate Kusui is waiting for him. He rigged the military boomer on Mason’s orders, and now he wants a bonus- but before that, Mason wants to inform him of a change of plans. The Knight Sabers have the technological edge over them, so why not use that to his advantage? Instead of eliminating them, Mason should really be employing them.

At the Silky Doll, the Knight Sabers and Macky take the time to relax and enjoy a meal. Nene explains just how she used the virus, although she admits that she didn’t have time to cover her tracks as well as she could have (hopefully the army will think it was just a kid who hacked in with a fake ADP login). Whilst Nene and Macky fall into one of their usual arguments over trivialities, Linna takes the time to thank Priss for making her feel like she belongs in the team.

Dinner over, Macky asks Nene to help him sort out the computer, although once down there he seems more interested in just being close to her. Nene tries to keep him at a distance, but later, at home, she just can’t stop thinking about him.

Cycling back to Nigel’s for the night, Macky is surprised to find that someone is visiting. It is Mason- he has come to make Nigel an offer. On the way out, Mason seems to recognise Macky, but Nigel deflects his attention and takes Macky indoors. The recognition is mutual- Macky knows Mason, and worries that Nigel has told him about Sylia.

Meanwhile, Kusui has some information for Sylia. He knows what Mason is searching for underground. Mason has been diverting resources from the Dragon Project to search for her father’s old research facility, the Wizlab. Distraught at this news, Sylia sinks to the floor, whispering a single word, “Galatea”.

What Sylia doesn’t realise is that Mason has paid Kusui to give her this information. Back at Genom, Mason calls in a female boomer and tells her to give Kusui his bonus- but it is not pleasure or money. Instead, the boomer grabs Kusui by the throat and throttles him, whilst a disinterested Mason leaves the room.

Back at her apartment, and Nene is still thinking about Macky. Logging onto her computer, she calls up pictures of the Stingray family- including a very interesting photo of Macky and Sylia together. The photo was taken 10 years ago, and Sylia looks accordingly younger, but Macky, who should have been five years old at the time, looks exactly the same as he does now. What could possibly be going on?

Meanwhile, at K’s Garage, Nigel has sunk into a drunken despair. Macky is worried too; he is desperate to find out if Nigel told Mason about Sylia. What does he mean? Just what is the secret of the Stingray family?